Hey all,
I'm a third-year student at Northwestern/Feinberg. It's a great school and a great location too!
Deet5000: For the first 2 years (classes and exams), grading is completely pass/fail. This worked out pretty well. My classmates studied hard but were also willing to help each other out. For the last 2 years (clinical clerkships), the grading is honors/high pass/pass/fail plus a written evaluation from each clerkship. This matters less than you might think, though. Thing is, the last 2 years are competitive at almost any US medical school, pass/fail or not, because most US schools also give you the same standardized written evaluation, called a "MSPE", that compares your clinical performance against everyone else's.
In other words: say one student gets a pass in Northwestern's 3rd year surgery clerkship, while another gets honors. At a strictly pass/fail school, they'd both get a pass. But both Northwestern and the other school will also issue MSPEs that say something like "Ms. X had clinical skills that met expectations" for the first student and "Ms. Y had consistently outstanding clinical skills" for the second student. Residency program directors are well aware of this, and so students work hard no matter what, because honors or not, everyone is aiming for a great written MSPE. That said, my classmates have been pretty cool; they obviously want to do the best they can, but nobody seems to be out to get anyone else.
whoknowswhere: most students live in Streeterville, by the school. It's a neighborhood of very tall high-rises and skyscrapers, tucked between Michigan Avenue, the Chicago River (to the south), and the lake. Most of the housing stock is modern luxury apartments, and it's not uncommon to live on the 40th floor with great city and lake views. A lot of students love it, while others prefer one of Chicago's numerous other neighborhoods. I'd strongly suggest starting in Streeterville for at least your first year, though, just because living next to school is so convenient. As sleepy007 mentioned, the list of local rental apartment buildings from Linda Daniels is a good start. The very cheapest nearby housing option is probably the university-affiliated Worcester House, which is basic but passable. As Norua said, market rents in Streeterville have gone up quite a bit in the last couple years, with most studios now starting at $1000/month or more. But it's also a fun and very convenient place to live.
Anyway, I hope that was helpful. Good luck to everyone--I'm looking forward to meeting some of you next year!
